Bura Haal Hai

Happened to come back from Ambala early in the day and was on approach to Zirakpur. Not a new sight, but you cannot ignore a beeline of flats on both sides of the road - occupied, constructed but to be occupied, being constructed and to be occupied whenever. All the flashing banners of developers, only makes one nostalgic of the anger perceived while taking all those unwelcome sales calls and sms'es.

Generally if someone is along, you talk of all the haphazard construction, bitch about it a little and end up concluding - BURA HAAL HAI. Today I happened to delve further. Thought was, where will all these people go for their needs ? ELANTE ?? Where will all these people go to work ? Is there so much new work in Chandigarh and area, that it can feed such expanding populace ? 

Chandigarh will bear the brunt of it and it is, as I write. True to the word, traffic jam started all the way from descent of Zirakpur flyover right up till Tribune Chowk. Is this the same City Beautiful where I was born ? I am left baffled. 

I am lucky in sorts that I put up in Sector 28 and my office in Industrial Area -1 is just a 5 minute drive; cut down further by early timings of work. As such I happen to be completely oblivious to the traffic scene, just half a kilometer away. When happened to face a scenario as today, I make out how we are where we are as a country. 

No one in-charge in the Administration, happens to notice the unplanned construction in city's proximity.  To them its probably not visible. While population has been increasing manifold creating an overload of sorts, has the city's infrastructure increased/improved accordingly ? The best we could do is remove a few roundels, install a few new traffic lights - with CCTV cameras - which nobody monitors, and in the age of so called automation - increase the number of white shirt traffic police. That's about it. This is Le Corbusier's Chandigarh - RETROFITTED aka JUGAAD.

Nobody explains the barriers installed next to Welcome to City Beautiful's hand, ever since the militancy days (which was more than 20 years ago). Yes, we now do have a board next to it saying - during night, roll down the windows and light up the cabin. Have you ever done that or have I ever done that ? OK, the point isn't that you and me are bad citizens, point is if we are, then who is there to check ? If there is no one to enforce, which goes to prove irrelevance of the content on board, then why put it up at all ? The sentry pickets are still there; at times manned but mostly unmanned. At some point in time, some cameras were installed on the barriers - today - no one knows their fate, not even God. The site best only serves as a bottleneck test for the commuters.

Come further and the traffic lights have those timers installed. Probably programmed for traffic volume for certain hour of the day, and totally out of sync for other hours of the day. Solution - a traffic policeman giving hand signals. Who by the way, only stands out when there has to happen some VIP movement along the route. Otherwise, its best of luck commuter.

Come Tribune Chowk and you have a pack of white shirts prying at you. The older elite under the shade, and new ones under the sun yet to prove their hunting skills. The idea is not to make you and me obey traffic rules - it is not - the idea is to find at what point are you wrong and smack you with a challan. It doesn't matter how inconsistent it might sound with traffic law enforcement throughout the country, but at that place and at that time, you ought to be knowing all the 92 offences you can be challaned for. OK agreed, one should know that. But do they make you write a test before giving a driving license ? Yeaa...you answered that right.

So after all this what do I arrive at ? Just as Mr. Malik and I discussed the other day, that if I have to report this to someone, I really don't know who that someone is. If I do know, whether that someone is really answerable to anyone for public grievances ?

Sadly, at the end, I am only left with more question marks...???